Once in a great while, you get to see a sporting event in which athletes perform at their highest levels while never seeking to gain the advantage in a dirty fashion. In my opinion, such instances don’t happen often enough any more. But it did yesterday at NASCAR’s Dover 400. With 25 laps to go, the race came down to two drivers—Matt Kennseth, who was the race leader, and Jeff Burton, a guy who used to win on a regular basis, but hasn’t done so since 2001.
If you follow NASCAR, then you know that Kennseth and Burton are two of the good guys in the sport. I like both drivers, but I was rooting for Burton at the end because he hasn’t won for so long. Burton repeatedly tried to pass Kennseth, but he couldn’t get around him. Television coverage cut to Burton’s wife, Kim, several times during the last few laps, and she was near tears at the thought of Jeff winning.
Burton had no intentions of bumping Kennseth out of the way, or to drive into one of the corners so deeply that he wrecked both guys. He stayed on Kennseth’s bumper—always looking for a clean way to pass. Kennseth knew what type of driver that Burton is. He knew Burton wouldn’t play dirty. That meant Kennseth felt free to drive his car to the best of his ability—free from concerns about being knocked out of contention.
With six laps to go, Burton drove underneath Kennseth and passed him in a corner. A few laps later, Kennseth ran out of gas and Burton went on to the Victory Lane. In an age when so many athletes prance and dance and brag and seem to have no respect for their sport or fans, seeing such a gutsy performance by two athletes who care deeply about doing things the right way was a blast to watch.
Technorati Tags: Dover 400, Jeff Burton, Matt Kennseth, good sportsmanship